BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gabriele Fiorentino was born and raised in Duesseldorf, Germany. After completing high school, she chose Miami as her home. She is a University of Miami Alumna with an MBA in Marketing. After working at Burger King Corporation, and the advertising agency Beber Silverstein and Partners, she has been focusing on business and investment opportunities together with her husband, Patrick Fiorentino. Currently, their efforts are centered on developing a truffle orchard in North Carolina.

 

Fiorentino has a long-standing interest in the Arts. For almost a decade she was involved in many educational projects presenting arts in the public school. This interest has evolved into supporting and building Dranoff’s Piano Slam program, whose mission it is to use music in order to enhance learning.

Trans-national disputes have unique legal challenges that Maxine Long has tackled for 30 years. She often uses her own creative strategies to handle issues ranging from international negotiations to dispute resolution and post-judgment remedies. An experienced partner in the Miami Litigation Department, she focuses on resolving disputes for companies and financial institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Clients include individuals, corporations, foreign and national banks, and government entities. Her work with a local church has also led to a side niche--counseling churches of various denominations.

 

The international aspect of Long's practice is extensive, with cases often involving foreign banking transactions and contract disputes. She has experience with cases under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, as well as various treaties and conventions, and is particularly skilled at handling cases that span multiple jurisdictions.

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She joined Shutts & Bowen in 1980, following a clerkship with U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins. Long is listed in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World.

Christina Bracken, born and raised in Germany, fell in love with Miami after an Atlantic crossing on a sailboat. She moved to Key Biscayne within weeks. She and her family then spent  6 years in Indonesia, Thailand and India where she also started a business  designing and manufacturing children’s clothing for customers in Europe.
 

Back from Asia, she was hired as product developer by a Miami footwear company in 1993 and 10 years later, launched her own design and manufacturing business.

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She founded GoVoteMiami in 2015 to impact civic engagement in her home community and beyond.

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Christina also serves on the Executive Council of Inspired Women Lead, an organization mentoring women around the world to discover and develop their authentic selves to lead.

Rodrigo was born in Peru, earned his BA from Universidad del Pacífico and during the following decade became an expert in spearheading remarkable market share and sales growth in new and undeveloped markets for worldwide leaders such as L'Oréal, Samsung Electronics, and Amazon. He recently graduated cum laude with an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College in Boston.

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As he embarks on his career and embraces fatherhood with his wife Mariana, Rodrigo is committed to making a significant impact in the global music community. Raised with a deep love for music, he relishes playing his cherished Steinway & Sons piano.

Juan Carlos Espinosa is a political scientist with degrees from the University of Miami and Florida State University. He joined FIU in 2006 as Associate Dean and Faculty Fellow at the Honors College. In that position, he focused on curriculum, research, and community engagement. He became interim Dean in July 2017 and was appointed Dean in May 2018. Espinosa has taught Honors College courses at every level from the Freshman Seminar to Upper Division seminars on public policy and climate change. As Associate Dean, he led an effort to restructure the Honors curriculum to put a greater focus on critical thinking, written and oral communication, research, and other skills needed for academic success for the high-achieving students of the Honors College.

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As Dean, Espinosa is leading the effort to rethink undergraduate Honors education understanding an academic major does not give students sufficient preparation for life after college. The Honors College prepares students to be agile, flexible, and resourceful by offering them the intellectual and vocational tools they will need to master the literacies they will need to navigate in a rapidly changing world. A critical part of the reform is the tearing down of the wall between the curricular and the co-curricular and providing students with opportunities for experiential learning through internships, jobs, competitions, and projects.

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Espinosa has served on numerous university-wide committees including the Strategic Planning Committee, the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Committee, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Committee. He has also served on several local, state, and regional boards including Seraphic Fire and the Florida Undergraduate Research Council. Espinosa has been inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society of the University of Miami, the Florida International University Order of the Torch, and as an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Heidy Frank is a Family Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley, Coral Gables FL office. Heidy has 20+ Years in client relationship roles of increasing responsibility, including regional head for Nokia ( former Alcatel-Lucent ). Her affiliations include the CFA and ADL Chapters of South Florida.

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Originally from Brazil, Ms. Frank as been in Miami for over 30 years. Heidy is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese with a working knowledge of German. She holds a BBA from University of Miami, with majors in Finance and Marketing. Heidy achieved her Masters from Babson College with a specialization in Entrepreneurship.

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In addition to Heidy‘s professional interests, she has a firm belief in being involved in the community. Ms Frank is a member of or has actively supported the Key Biscayne Yacht Club, Act4Me Foundation. She is the VP for Babson College‘ Florida Alumni Group and is on Dranoff‘s board.

Glenda Hayley worked in international education and corporate relations at the University of Miami for more than 30 years, bringing with her intensive knowledge of language programs. She worked and lived abroad and still travels extensively.

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Glenda is an active participant in the community and in addition to the Dranoff International 2 Piano Foundation, she supports the Lowe Art Museum, CARE Elementary School (Christian Academy for Reaching Excellence), the Coral Gables Garden Club, and other local organizations as well as the Kauai Museum in Hawaii.

I recognized my calling as an artist on my 10th birthday when I received my first set of watercolors from my uncle, Ray Bertrand, a WPA Muralists and art teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute. My formal studies began as an undergraduate at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I received my BA degree from the California College of Art, and my graduate studies were pursued at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

 

My career began as Fashion Illustrator for Liberty House department store chain in Oakland, California. I became Art Director in 1979 for the Nob Hill Gazette in San Francisco, and in 1984 I moved to NYC becoming Art Director for Fairchild Publications on numerous fashion publications. While living in NYC, I also enjoyed teaching fashion illustration at the Parson School of Design. Editorial, graphic and advertising design became my world for the next eight years.

In 1992, depleted from the fast past of NYC, I made a fresh start in the quaint mining town of Telluride, Colorado, working as Art Director for the Telluride Magazine. During my sojourn in Telluride, I also taught figure painting in watercolor at the Ah Ha School . It was during this period, I began to shift my emphasis to painting, spending hundreds of hours hiking the Rocky Mountains with her watercolors in tow. Miniature landscapes were the first expressions to emerge.

I now live in Miami. My studio is located at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood, a fabulous converted factory converted into over 60 artists studios. What I try to achieve in my paintings is a sense of “aliveness” with brushwork and color. My aim is to paint the light and pieces of color that describes what I see. My experience with painting is impulsive and fluid rather than an organized plan of action. When I paint I am reacting to the excitement I feel when I see something that registers as beautiful to me. My focus is on the magic!

Lasana Smith, the founder and CEO of GAROI Media, has over a decade of expertise in marketing, sales, and digital media from organizations such as Columbia Records, MTV Networks, Ogilvy & Mather, Groupon, YP, Excelerate Digital, and the Miami Herald.

 

Lasana has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and International Business from Florida State University and a Master of Science in Communication Management from the University of Southern California. Lasana was also named one of the "40 Under 40" by Legacy Magazine as well as one of "Miami's Most Influential and Powerful Black Business Leaders."

Touri J. White Sr. serves as the Program Manager for the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Prior to his current position, White served as the Community Relations & Outreach Manager at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. He also served as the Upward Bound Math & Science Director at the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science; and as an Earth-Space Science Teacher for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

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White actively served as a member of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee, Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science MPS Internship Committee Chair and served on the MPS Non-Academic Career Panel. 

 

White earned his Master of Science degree in Coastal Zone Management and Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Psychology from the University of Miami. He also earned his Professional Educator’s Certificate in Earth-Space Science grades (6-12) with a gifted endorsement from the Florida Department of Education.